World Trust

At World Trust we celebrate she-ros, such as the everyday she-ros featured in our film, The Way Home: Women Talk About Race in America. In celebration of March being Women's Her-story Month, each of our staff picked one of their own she-ros to share with you. Read on for some deep inspiration:

Founder, Shakti Butler's she-ro: Ella Baker

Ella Baker is one of my She-roes. She was tireless in her resistance to injustice and fearless in terms of putting her life on the line for what she believed. As an organizer, Baker was a staunch believer in helping ordinary people to work together and lead themselves, and she objected to centralized authority. In her worldview, “strong people don’t need strong leaders.” Her words live on in “Ella’s Song,” sung by Sweet Honey in the Rock: “We who believe in freedom cannot rest.”

The Summit on Race Matters in Appalachia, held from November 10-11, 2014 in Charleston, West Virginia, brought eight different organizations and coalitions together to have a powerful conversation about the history of race relations and systemic racism in the state.

A screening of Shakti Butler's Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity got this diversity workshop started, and the words flowed from there. In fact, the summit was so successful that the facilitators have already scheduled a follow up event on January 8, 2015.

One of the great powers of film is its ability to spark conversation that is both challenging and compassionate. This enables participants to leverage the kind of transformative learning that’s crucial for cultural diversity training. But how do you choose a film that’s right for your goals? Read on for our series of tips on how to select a film resource to support your equity efforts.

One of the great powers of film is its ability to spark conversation that is both challenging and compassionate. This enables participants to leverage the kind of transformative learning that’s crucial for cultural diversity training. But how do you choose a film that’s right for your goals? Read on for our series of tips on how to select a film resource to support your equity efforts.

Tip #5: Provide a Frame for Both Head and Heart Analysis“What good would it do to stir up these old wounds?” Race is a powerful subject, and one that often brings with it a fair amount of emotional pain. It’s human nature to either avoid what’s painful, or to dwell on it without seeking opportunities for healing. Both approaches leave issues unchecked to fester. The conversation on race too often remains focused on individual pain or transgression, when the larger issue is systemic and structural inequity. And the alternative is often not to talk about race at all.

One of the great powers of film is its ability to spark conversation that is both challenging and compassionate. This enables participants to leverage the kind of transformative learning that’s crucial for cultural diversity training. But how do you choose a film that’s right for your goals? Read on for our series of tips on how to select a film resource to support your equity efforts.

Tip #4: Choose A Film That Can Adapt To Available Resources“We’d love to engage with this subject thoroughly – but we only have an hour to fit it in!” Screening of a full-length film can be a wonderful launching pad for conversation, and an immersive introduction to the topic of racial equity. But what if full-length is simply not an option, given the time constraints or learning goals of an organization?

One of the great powers of film is its ability to spark conversation that is both challenging and compassionate. This enables participants to leverage the kind of transformative learning that’s crucial for cultural diversity training. But how do you choose a film that’s right for your goals? Read on for our series of tips on how to select a film resource to support your equity efforts.

Tip #3: Acknowledge the Power of the Dominant Culture“Diversity training is a great idea – but what does it have to do with me?” This is a question that may have come up more than once, voiced by a well-meaning member of a community or organization.

The best way to begin to answer it is by understanding that within an oppressive system, no one is able to fully access their humanity if they can’t also recognize the humanity of every individual around them: even those on the system’s margins. And although all people are therefore both the oppressor and the oppressed within these systems, the dominant culture within a society plays a particular role when looking at the question of race.

One of the great powers of film is its ability to spark conversation that is both challenging and compassionate. This enables participants to leverage the kind of transformative learning that’s crucial for cultural diversity training. But how do you choose a film that’s right for your goals? Read on for our series of tips on how to select a film resource to support your equity efforts.

Tip #2: Use A Critical Mass Of Stories For Implicit Bias TrainingThere are a vast number of moving and important biopics, historical dramas, and other films that document the hardships and challenges faced by oppressed people due to systemic inequity. These are pivotal, important films which do a great deal to explore the topics in their charge. But as affecting as these films are: the viewer is always an observer, rarely included in the story.